


The Sky Above

by DawnOfTomorrow



Series: High Above [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Anxiety, Dealing with issues, Depression, Healing, Homophobia, M/M, Mental Illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:29:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 39
Words: 19,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24998353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnOfTomorrow/pseuds/DawnOfTomorrow
Summary: Sequel to The Rooftop.After the bomb Victor dropped on the skating world, they move to Detroit together. Things are... good.Yuuri wants them to be better. He has a question to ask Victor... but how will the man feel about the idea of 'forever'?
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri & Victor Nikiforov, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Series: High Above [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1809676
Comments: 132
Kudos: 185





	1. Chapter 1

“Yuuuuuri! Have you seen my blue shirt?” A call echoed from the bedroom out to their training room. He pulled one of his earbuds out, but didn’t stop running on the treadmill.

“Which one?” He asked, well aware that the answer was probably still no, no matter which one.

“The one I was wearing yesterday evening? I can’t find it.”

Oh. That one, he had some idea about.

  
“Have you checked behind the couch?”

The shirt had gone sailing pretty quickly after they came home last night.

“Ohhhh, found it, thanks!” Victor chirped a few minutes later before poking his head into the room and blowing him a kiss.

Grinning at the other man, he pretended to catch it before putting his earbud back in – he had another two miles to run after all.

They’d gotten the treadmill after Victor had insisted on it – Yuuri had been just fine running around the block a few times, but once Victor had found out the crime rate in Detroit, he had _insisted_ that Yuuri no longer run in the dark… and preferably not outside at all.

So, they had turned the still-empty third bedroom of their little flat into a small gym. There was the treadmill, a wall-mirror with a barre, and a pole. The pole hadn’t been touched so far. Yuuri hadn’t even wanted it, but when Phichit – the traitor – told Victor that he knew how to poledance, there had been no stopping the other man.

“I’m off now! I’ll be back in about two hours!” Victor called, followed by a short bark.

“Have a good day!” He called back.

It was Thursday – they had a routine.

After much nudging and asking, Victor had agreed to see someone about his depression. He had outright hated the first two therapists he’d met with, but the third – a young, plump woman with kind eyes – he had liked.

So, once per week, he took Makka for a walk, then spent 45 minutes with the therapist.

He’d refused the offer of medication, saying that he didn’t like the idea of a ‘chemical crutch’ as he’d called it – Yuuri supported his decision. Really, he was happy as long as Victor got the help he needed.

It had only been about two months, but he’d noticed some real changes in the other man.

He turned the treadmill up a little.

Some of the shyness that had accompanied their earlier interactions was gone. Victor no longer… doubted him quite as much. It was a quiet confidence he’d gained, but confidence nonetheless.

It was also a fantastically sexy look on him, he had to admit.

That wasn’t to say that there weren’t also bad moments. Especially at first – after he’d formally moved to Detroit. Not unsurprisingly, almost all of his sponsors had cut ties with Victor, and not always very… politely.

The Russian skating organisations had pulled his accreditations and publicly ended any involvement he had with them – a toothless action, given that Victor had already done so on his own terms.

Still, some of the letters they had received had been… less than polite. Not all, to be fair. Two American brands had sent him a letter actually praising his courage and promising continued support should he continue a career in figure skating.

Yuuri didn’t say anything, but he knew that Victor kept those letters carefully tucked away with some other important documents.

On a personal level, things were a little less… mixed. He had received unconditional support from the skating community – both skaters themselves and fans. Practically overnight, he had become something of an icon for the fight against oppression and homophobia.

The only group that hadn’t openly supported him had been the other Russian skaters – but then, they couldn’t be so open about it. Some of them still found ways, though.

Mila and Georgi had posted a picture of themselves under a stunning a rainbow a few hours later – no caption.

He knew Victor had shed a tear or two over it.

So had he.

The two had also been the ones to help them with Victor’s things. Given what he had done, they had decided against going and personally picking his things up. Mila and Georgi had instead shipped them to Yuuri’s dorm.

His namesake Yuri Plisetsky had sent him – him, not Victor – a text message, ranting about how old and disgusting they both were… but it lacked the sort of genuine vitriol he had half-expected. Probably because Yuri had ended it with the words ‘Congrats, I guess.’.

He had shown Victor, who had snickered and said something about ‘bristly little tigers’.

Breathing hard, he turned the speed of the treadmill down to a brisk walk. He’d almost met his exercise goal for the afternoon. He waited for his breathing to slow back down to normal levels before switching off the machine and getting a quick shower.

He had an afternoon appointment too – though his was _not_ the regularly scheduled kind.


	2. Chapter 2

After his shower, he hurried to get dressed and head out – he had a half hour bus ride to get through.

He arrived with plenty of time to spare, idling in front of the shop for a few moments before he found the courage to walk in. He nodded at the girl near the front before walking past – the man he was there to meet was near the back of the shop.

An American in his late 50s, Yuuri had taken an immediate liking to him when he’d met him. The man was renowned for being one of the best jewellers and goldsmiths in Detroit – and Yuuri had wanted the best.

“Ah, Mr. Katsuki! Right on time I see. Come on, I’ll show you in the back!”

Smiling at the man’s jovial attitude, he followed him through a door between two cases of jewellery.

He sat in the offered chair, his heart nearly beating out of his chest.

“Are you nervous?” The man asked him with a twinkle in his eyes.

He laughed shakily.

“Ah, well, a little. I’m sure they’re great, but…”

The old man nodded.

“Don’t worry, I see it a lot. Any doubts?” He asked as he pulled out a black velvet box.

“None.” He responded, truthfully, eyes glued to the velvet. He knew what was inside, knew that they would be perfect, but still…

The goldsmith set the box down and pushed it across the desk to him.

Picking it up with shaky fingers, he flipped open the box.


	3. Chapter 3

The rings that stared up at him were _perfect_.

The other man had done fantastic work on the gold bands.

Yuuri had brought a number of sketches and ideas to his first meeting with the other man – they had quickly formed into a concrete plan.

He picked up the smaller of the two – his own.

There, on the front, was an engraved snowflake – well, half of one. The other half was on the second ring.

He flipped it around to check the inside – just like they’d agreed, a small diamond sat on the inside, directly next to the engraving of Victor’s name.

He ran his fingertip across the diamond.

“It’s so smooth, I can’t feel it at all.” He marvelled.

“Ah yes, as promised. Why don’t you have a look at the other too?”

He did as asked, holding the rings together briefly. The snowflakes aligned perfectly.

The inside of Victor’s ring matched his exactly – a smoothly implanted diamond next to an engraving of his name in a slanted cursive font Yuuri had picked from a catalogue.

“They’re STUNNING.” He declared after inspecting them both.

“Yes? I’m glad, I’m glad! It’s not often that I get to design such a unique pair of rings!” The older man chuckled.

He’d been a little apprehensive at first – he knew that while America was generally pretty accepting of gay people and gay marriage, especially some older people still held prejudices. He’d gotten lucky though – the jeweller had shown him a photo of his youngest daughter and her wife.

Hiring him had been a no-brainer.

And now… now, two weeks later, the rings were ready.

He paid for them, thanked the man and practically floated home.

It took a lot to make him feel like he was floating on a _Detroit bus_ of all places, but the small box that now rested in his coat pocket did a fantastic job of it.


	4. Chapter 4

He got back before Victor – just as planned.

He’d spent a lot of time thinking about where to hide them until his proposal – he’d dismissed all the usual suspects.

  
Victor was in his sock drawer and cupboards more than he was, and with how often he arranged his outfits for him, a coat pocket wasn’t a safe choice either.

Underneath the bed would have been a good idea, except there wasn’t a gap between the bed and the floor – and the bedside table was accessed too frequently as well.

In an unkind moment he’d considered putting the box in the dishwasher because the other man NEVER voluntarily looked in there, but that was just a dumb idea altogether.

That left him with few options.

The locker at his rink, but he wasn’t comfortable leaving it in semi-public, or with Phichit in his flat. His friend already knew what he was planning to do, and needless to say, he whole-heartedly approved.

‘Shipped’ them, actually, according to him.

As per Phichit’s request, he texted the man as soon as he was back home. Phichit only lived about fifteen minutes away, and soon he too was sitting on Yuuri’s couch, admiring the gold.

“They’re perfect.”

“Aren’t they? And you’ll look after them?”

His friend gave him an amused look. “I will protect them with my LIFE.” He declared.

“Protect what with your life?” An amused voice chimed in from behind.

Yuuri flinched so hard he nearly fell of the couch. Phichit was far smoother, immediately letting the box disappear in his pocket before Victor could come in from where he was wiping Makka’s feet and spot it.

“My hamsters of course. I was just telling Yuuri here that Arthur did a FLIP today.” The man continued as if nothing was wrong.

Yuuri was impressed. He wasn’t nearly that good of a liar.

“A flip you say?” Victor asked, finally coming inside and immediately giving Yuuri a kiss hello. No more hesitation – just the same love he always saw in those blue eyes.

“Yes! Yuuri insists that it ‘doesn’t count’ because he was falling out of his wheel.”

He sighed.

“Phichit, that’s not a flip, that’s called a _fall_.”

The other man gasped in mock outrage.

“Excuse you, mister! You didn’t hear me say that when you were practicing YOUR triple flip and you fell, now did I?”

“Phichit, that’s not the same, I’m not a hamster.”

His best friend shot him a mock-offended glare.

“I’ve had it with this! Blasphemy! I’m going home now. It was nice to see you, Victor.”

The Russian waved goodbye to Phichit and they both watched as he left.

“Did he leave because of me?” Victor asked, his tone a little worried.

“No, not at all. He actually has training later, I think.” Not a lie – still, not the truth either.

“Fair enough. You didn’t tell me he was stopping by.”

Victor pouted as he crawled closer on the couch before sitting across Yuuri’s lap.

“Mh, wasn’t planned. How did your session go?”

Victor cuddled into him, his head tucked against his throat.

“It went fine. We talked about skating. When I was younger.”

He pressed a kiss to Victor’s cheek.

“You don’t have to tell me about it.”

  
“Mh, it’s okay. She had me talk about what it was like when I still… enjoyed it. I miss the feeling.”

Yuuri smiled softly. “You’re always welcome to come to the rink with me. You know Celestino wouldn’t mind you training with us.”

Victor chuckled. “I want to. I’m just… not ready yet.”

They skated together often – not for training, but just for the fun of it. At least once or twice per week, Victor would go with him to the rink and they would just goof off – often after hours, when there was nobody there.

That… wasn’t what he was suggesting though. He knew that part of Victor wanted to skate properly again, but that there was still too much negativity around the whole thing for him to be able to go for it.

“That’s okay. Whenever works for you.” He assured the other man, running a hand up and down his calf.

After a few moments, the other man gave a whine that Yuuri knew all too well. A pleased grin spread across his features as he nuzzled against Victor’s throat and pressed a few soft kisses there.

“Would you like to take a nap?” He asked the other man, pleased when he chuckled.

“I don’t know, I’m not all that tired.” He gently bit the pale throat beneath him.

“Neither am I.”


	5. Chapter 5

About an hour later, still breathing hard and with a passed-out Victor laying next to him, he thought about the future.

He’d had and discarded _so many_ ideas for his proposal, he was starting to run out. Nothing seemed… well, special enough. And the things that felt special were either far off into the future or almost impossible.

He could propose after World’s, which was just a few months off… but then, they’d had their fair share of media attention and public incidents, and he wanted his proposal to be private. He could do it after breaking one of Victor’s world records, but not only would that be difficult, but he also didn’t want the other man to think that he was proposing for shallow reasons.

Restaurants were too ordinary, fancy holidays out of his budget.

His friends’ suggestions weren’t any help either. Phichit had said he might as well do it at home in sweatpants with how far gone they were for each other – he’d gasped in outrage. No way! It was supposed to be special.

His sister had recommended the spot they first met – of course, she didn’t know that that spot was a horribly cold and desolate rooftop in Russia. They’d decided not to tell his family exactly how they met. So, that was out too.

He knew that technically speaking, they weren’t in any rush, but now that he HAD the rings, he wanted nothing more than to see one gleaming on Victor’s finger.

“Mh, love you!” The other man mumbled as if on cue, clearly still asleep as he wrapped himself around Yuuri more.

He’d asked for and received proposal advice from nearly everyone he knew – and nothing seemed _right_ for them.

He knew he’d have to keep thinking if he wanted things to be perfect.


	6. Chapter 6

Ironically, the ‘perfect’ idea came to him in the middle of a rather nasty fall on the ice.

A failed attempt at a quad Lutz that drove the air out of his lungs and had him sliding into the barrier behind him.

He pulled himself up easily enough, his hip and shoulder aching.

By the time Celestino reached him, he was grinning from ear to ear.

“Yuuri… are you ok? Hurt?”

His grin widened.

“I’m fine, coach. I’ll go put some ice on.”

“Uh, are you sure? You don’t… look fine.” The Italian said, eyeing him suspiciously.

His grin only widened.

“Nope, all fine. Might have to stop for today though.”

“Well… okay? If you say so?”

He knew his coach was watching him as he limped off the ice and to the changing room. He barely paid any attention to applying the two ice packs and immediately laid down with his sketchbook on one of the long benches in the changing room.

He had PLANNING to do.

Frantically scribbling into his little book, he missed when Phichit came in a few minutes later.

“Hey there… everything okay? Nasty fall.”  
  


He looked up, beaming at Phichit.

“Hi! Oh, sure, it’s all fine. Phichit, I’ve got it!”

The Thai skater looked as concerned as Ciao Ciao for a moment.

“You have… what, exactly?”

“It! The perfect idea!”

He could see the exact moment it clicked for Phichit.

“Oh my god! Tell me EVERYTHING!”

Neither of them made it back on the ice that session – and they were still sitting there debating when Celestino came to lock up a few hours later.


	7. Chapter 7

It took Yuuri some time to first perfect the theory of his proposal, and then work out the logistics. The two people whose help he needed – Phichit and Celestino – were enthusiastically on board.

As a matter of fact, he saw their coach tear up a little when he asked to borrow the rink for an afternoon at some point in the future.

That left just one problem – the actual execution, and practice of it.

Since sometimes, Victor came along to watch him, he had to be sneaky about it – he could only train with Celestino when Victor wasn’t around, and sometimes would sneak out when Victor was gone in order to train even more on his own.

He’d never been more motivated to get a routine perfect than he was with this one. The song he’d chosen was set on permanent repeat in a secret playlist he had on his phone – he listened to it pretty much every free second he had.

To his relief, Victor seemed to have absolutely no clue. He just praised Yuuri for working so hard for his worlds performance.

Sure, he did that too, but what was even a world championship in comparison to Victor Nikiforov’s hand in marriage?

So, Yuuri trained, and trained, and trained. He knew he couldn’t show it to Victor before it was absolutely perfect – and that would take time. He had to learn a new jump for the challenging choreography he’d come up with – and he needed a new costume too.

It had been Phichit’s suggestion, actually, to go the whole nine yards and have a costume made. His initial suggestion had been a suit, but Yuuri knew he couldn’t skate in one. So, instead he approached a costume designer and asked her to make him a suit out of the stretchy material their costumes were made out of.

She was all too happy to do so, even giving him a huge discount because she was so excited to be part of his planning.

His parents were excited for him too when he told them his plan – his mother started sniffling as soon as he mentioned the word ‘rings’. His sister just gave him a thumbs-up, while his father insisted they have the ceremony in Hasetsu.

That was just fine with him – he was more concerned with the proposal for the time being.

Three weeks after he’d made his decision, he skated the routine without mistakes for the first time, alone, after hours in the rink.

Another week later, he showed it to Phichit and Celestino, during a rare private session. He’d had Phichit stand in for Victor – the Thai skater had snickered but been all too willing to help.

They both declared it to be practically divine. Phichit had called him Casanova and given him his rings back – he hadn’t asked for them yet, but holding the small black box again, it felt… right.

Unfortunately, at the same time, World’s was drawing nearer – and he knew he couldn’t focus on two things at once. So, he had to make a decision on which to focus on first.

Thankfully, he got lucky and the decision was made a lot easier for him. Celestino phoned him, late at night, telling him that, through sheer coincidence, there was a period of three days where no training sessions other than his own were scheduled, as his other students were all away on holiday.

It was _perfect_.

Only a week away, it was still a comfortable month ahead of World’s. Really, the timing couldn’t have been better. With the rink empty for two days, he couldn’t just use it for the proposal, but even decorate it.

That had been Phichit’s suggestion – followed by him putting himself in charge of all things decoration. Yuuri was all too happy about that – the very idea of having to pick out something like… colours and maybe banners was downright revolting to him. He’d rather focus on the skating aspect of it.

Still, he nearly cried when Phichit demonstrated his set-up a little bit ahead of time.

He really couldn’t have asked for a better friend.


	8. Chapter 8

The date he’d chosen approached frightfully quickly. At first it had seemed to be forever away, but that quickly changed to it being just a day away. Yuuri knew that it was his anxiety acting up.

He knew that Victor loved him, without a doubt. Still, they had never spoken about marriage, not at all. Not once. He wasn’t sure if it was something the other man would be interested in.

He’d waited too long to ask – besides, he wanted it to be a surprise. He wasn’t very subtle, so there was a good chance that Victor would figure something out if he brought it up while trying to act casual.

It left him uncertain – not ideal for his anxiety.

Waking up the morning of THE DAY, though, there was no trace of that anxiety anywhere to be found. It was surprising, actually.

He spent most of the morning trying to stop himself from smiling like a complete lunatic.

It wasn’t easy.

Sipping a cup of tea over breakfast, he decided that it was time to get the ball rolling.

“Do you want to go to the rink later? Celestino said it’d be empty today.”

Victor looked up from his slice of toast.

“Oh? Sure, sounds fun. I haven’t gone in a few days.”

They shared a warm smile before Yuuri excused himself to the bathroom to text Phichit.

‘Plan is a go’ he texted the younger skater, receiving a series of exclamation marks and thumbs up in return.

As they had agreed, Phichit would head to the rink and get things set up, and then let him know when everything was ready.

Heart in his throat, he went back to Victor and hugged him from behind.

The other man was still chewing his toast.

Pressing a kiss to Victor’s cheek, he opened his mouth – obediently, Victor let him have a bite.

He wrinkled his nose.

“Low fat cream cheese?” He asked after swallowing it.

“Mhm.”

“Urgh.” He complained, not at all fond of the topping.

Victor snickered.

“Then get your own breakfast.”

“I had some fruit. Besides, it’s worth it if you feed me.”

He pulled away far enough that Victor could turn and give him a mock-annoyed look.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Chuckling, he pulled away and headed into the bedroom. He had to get ready. His new costume was in his go bag for the rink, carefully folded and ready to go. After making sure that Victor was in the bathroom, he slipped on the costume, and his track suit over it.

It was hidden perfectly – he’d already tested it out, once or twice, when Victor wasn’t around.

At his request, the costume designer had given him a pocket deep enough to fit the box. It looked a little odd, denting the pants of the costume, but the top half had a loose-fitting mock suit jacket that covered it nicely.

Besides, Victor’s attention was hopefully going to be somewhere else anyway.

He grabbed Victor’s things and added them to his own bag, then deposited it by the door.

He was nervous, fidgety. Of course, he realised, that would give things away – so he tried to remember what he normally did when Victor was getting ready.

He couldn’t think of a single damn thing, nervously fiddling with the velvet box instead.

His phone chimed with a text message – from Phichit.

‘Good to go.’


	9. Chapter 9

Their trip to the rink went by quickly – they met a dog on the bus, and Victor spent the entire time cooing to it – to the point where he very nearly missed their spot just because he was petting the German shepherd.

  
Yuuri wanted to be mad, but he really couldn’t, not when he’d petted her almost as much.

Entering the empty rink was a little odd – as always when a normally loud and busy place was quiet and empty.

His nerves were starting to creep in when they put on their skates though. Yuuri knew that his heart was racing – it took him three attempts to lace up his left skate.

Victor took pity on him, kneeling down and doing it up for him.

“Are you okay? You seem a bit nervous.”

He laughed softly.

“Well… I sort of have something to show you? I came up with a new routine. For you.”

The other man’s eyes brightened and he smiled that heart-shaped smile Yuuri loved so much, easing his nerves.

“Wow! So exciting! I can’t wait to see it!”

He cleared his throat.

“Okay… but… it’s a surprise. Can you do me a favour?”

“Anything!”

“Can I blindfold you for a minute?”

The request obviously surprised him, but the Russian shrugged it off easily.

“Okay!”

Yuuri had brought a thick black blindfold for just this purpose and tied it securely around Victor’s face.

“L-Let’s go.”

He started leading Victor out towards the rink – the trust the other man placed in him absolutely awed him.

They moved slowly, into the larger rink hall.

He only just managed to suppress a gasp when he saw what the room looked like.

Phichit hadn’t just outdone himself – he’d apparently worked actual magic. The rink was lowly illuminated, not by the bright overhead floodlights, but by a huge amount of fairy lights that had been hung up around the walls of the rink and the hall alike.

He even spotted a cooler with what he assumed to be a bottle of champagne at the far side of the hall – out of sight from the rink itself. Doing his best to stay calm, he guided Victor to the ice, helped him slip his skate guards off and then pulled him along to the centre of the ice.

“Just… stay here for a second?” He requested.

Victor nodded and he quickly dashed to the side, stripping off his track suit, double-checking on the rings in his pocket and straightening his costume. His phone, connected to the Bluetooth sound system of the hall, had a special version of the song he’d chosen queued up and ready to go.

“You can take the blindfold off, but keep your eyes closed, okay?” Yuuri asked, his voice shaky. “You can open your eyes when the music starts.”

“What, you want me to be… in the middle of the ice?” Victor asked – his surprise was justified – normally not a good place to be during a regular performance.

This was anything but.

“Yes please.”

Victor did as instructed, slipping the blindfold into his pocket, eyes still closed. Yuuri took his position directly in front of the other man, waiting for the music to start. The version he had had a few seconds of silence to give him time to get into position.

The first note played.

Showtime.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lyrics used in this chapter are from 'Can't help falling in love' by Kina Grannis.
> 
> You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR6L_C0Ii6s
> 
> I recommend you put it on in the background as you read this chapter!!

Victor’s eyes fluttered open, visibly adjusting to the unexpected lighting and sight of him. He heard the quiet gasp as the man took him in – his costume, the decorated rink, the slow music playing. Yuuri waited and smiled at the other - his routine didn’t start until the lyrics did.

  
Smiling with all the love he felt for the other man, he bowed as the singer began – the start of his routine.

_*Wise men say*_

Circling Victor to the rhythm of the music, first once then a second time, he took heart at the affection shining in his eyes. Victor's eyes were glued to his form. He had no idea if he had any idea of what was happening yet, but either way… he wanted to show his love to the other man, and he was determined to get his feelings across.

_*Only fools rush in*_

A step sequence taking him a little further from Victor, who was staring at him, hands covering half his face and what Yuuri could tell was a dark blush.

_*But I can't help falling in love with you*_

He winked at the other man before sharply speeding up and jumping into a triple axel. For a moment, the harsh sound of his skates on the ice was the only sound in the hall, before the song continued, the beautiful voice crooning through the hall.

_*Shall I stay?*_

His next step sequence took him closer to Victor again, close enough to touch.

_*Would it be a sin?*_

He reached out his hand, pleased when Victor took it without any hesitation. He pressed a kiss to the man’s palm, eyes locked on Victor’s face as he did.

_*If I can't help falling in love with you*_

He released the other man, turning and circling half the rink in an Ina Bauer.

_*Like a river flows*_

The next part was more challenging – a triple, single, double combination.

He knew it would be perfect before he even jumped.

_*Surely to the sea*_

Turning, he arranged himself into a backwards spiral, his eyes never straying from Victor.

_*Darling, so it goes*_

Completely improvised, he blew the other man a kiss, delighted at how Victor’s blush deepened even more.

A quick triple jump, and he was skating back towards Victor.

_*Some things are meant to be*_

Hand stretched out, he skated towards him, circled him once. Victor understood – he took Yuuri’s hand and pushed off as well, following his rhythm as he pulled Victor against himself.

_*So take my hand*_

He led Victor into a mock waltz on the ice, a harmonious back and forth that felt like they’d been doing it their whole life.

_*Take my whole life, too*_

Yuuri spun them back towards the centre and released Victor there, with a quick kiss to his fingers.

_*For I can't help falling in love with you*_

Facing away from him, he sped up for his next jump – a triple Lutz followed by a slow, deliberate step sequence.

_*For I can't help falling in love with you*_

His heart beat faster – the most difficult part of his programme was about to start.

_*Like a river flows*_

A spin combination, slower than in his normal programmes, more deliberate.

_*Surely to the sea*_

He skated another wide circle around Victor, picking up speed as he did. Make or break time – he’d trained the jump for this specific purpose.

_*Darling, so it goes*_

Praying it would go well, he launched into a quad flip.

_*Some things are meant to be*_

He landed it.

Flawlessly.

Victor’s gasp was so loud that it had to have echoed through the arena. Almost delirious with happiness, he spun, his heart aching in the best way as he watched tears streak down Victor’s beautiful face.

_*So take my hand*_

The other man had never seen him jump his signature move before – it was the fastest Yuuri had ever picked up a new jump, but then, he’d had motivation to do so. It was Victor's signature after all.

_*Take my whole life, too*_

Forcing himself to look away, he backed into his next step sequence.

_*For I can't help falling in love with you*_

A last jump – a quad triple combination that was something of a signature move of his own.

It was also one of the last moments of his skate. He was almost… sad that it was over, much as he was looking forward to what would come next.

_*For I can't help falling in love with you*_

Normally, the song would end there, but thanks to a tech major Phichit knew, Yuuri had a special version. Coming to a stopping position, his arms wrapped around himself, he kept his face turned from Victor, scared that he might otherwise lose his nerve.

An instrumental section played, during which Yuuri, with shaky fingers, reached for the box in his pocket. He opened it, glanced at the rings inside and allowed himself a deep breath.

Then, taking all his courage together, he spun, facing his lover again.

_*So take my hand*_

He pushed off, sinking to one knee as he skated closer to Victor again, the opened black box held out to him.

_*Take my whole life, too*_

Perfectly timed, he came to a stop inches before Victor, who was staring down at him in disbelief, his tears still flowing.

“Will you marry me, Victor?”


	11. Chapter 11

His first answer was a sob, then another.

“Y-Yuuri?” The other man stammered, one hand half-reaching for the box.

He stayed silent, waiting for an answer.

“Y-You want to marry me?”

“More than anything.”

As Victor reached to take the rings from him, he stood.

“Well?” He gently prompted when Victor kept staring at the rings in his hand.

Another sob.

“Y-Yuuri… I… YES! Of course I’ll marry you! Oh god, I-” The other man broke off, practically throwing himself at Yuuri. He was holding up most of the other man’s weight as he cried – not that he was doing any better.

He was crying just as hard, holding the other just as tightly.

He had no idea how long they stood there for, until eventually Victor pulled back enough to be able to look at the rings again.

“Yuuri… these are beautiful. How.. when… what did you…”

The man was so obviously overwhelmed, Yuuri scarcely knew what to say.

Sniffling himself, he plucked the box from Victor’s fingers and took out the larger of the two rings.

“May I?” He asked, his voice choked up a little by the sheer _amount_ of feelings coursing through him.

“Please.” Victor whispered back, his fingers shaking even as Yuuri slipped the ring on.

Watching the gold glitter in the low light of all of the faerie lights, Yuuri couldn’t remember a moment in his life he’d been happier.

When Victor took the box back a moment later, and shakily slid the other ring onto Yuuri’s finger, he could think of one.


	12. Chapter 12

They stood there for a few moments, each staring at the gold bands on their hands, when the faint sound of clapping drew their attention.

Yuuri shot around immediately, pinpointing the source of the clapping immediately – Phichit. The other skater was standing near the light-switches, dressed in all black. He walked over, gently clapping still.

“Yuuri, Victor, congratulations. I wanted to be the first to tell you congrats.”

Blushing a little, he nodded.

“ _Thank you_ Phichit. For your help.”

He noticed, standing by the edge of the rink now, that Phichit had tearmarks on his cheeks too – ones he wiped away quickly.

“Phichit helped?”

Yuuri turned back to Victor, who was still looking at his ring, not them.

“Ah, yes. He decorated the rink. Helped me with preparing the routine.”

Slowly, Victor looked over at them properly.

“Then yes, thank you, Phichit. So much.”

The Thai man cleared his throat.

“I… to be honest, I wasn’t going to say anything at all. But I just thought I should congratulate you. I also recorded your skate from a few angles. In case you want footage from it.”

Yuuri gasped in shock, even as Victor dashed forward and immediately started begging Phichit for the footage, which the other man promised him as soon as possible.

He’d had no idea the other man had recorded them – he hadn’t asked for that, but now that Phichit had said so, he was glad – he desperately wanted to be able to see Victor’s reactions again, and again, and again.

He placed his hand low on the other man’s back.

“I… I’ll leave you two too it. That… was really beautiful, Yuuri.” His friend said, his voice a lot more serious than his usual casual and joking tone. Yuuri owed him big.

All thoughts of Phichit were wiped from his mind when a moment later, Victor spun him around and took his mouth in a deep, passionate kiss.

Only years of training on the ice stopped him from falling over at the sudden movement.

A moment later, he was kissing back just as passionately, the taste of salty tears just barely on the other man’s lips.

Hands snaked around his waist and held him closer, his own pressed against Victor’s chest. He could feel the man’s heart race under his fingers, matching his own.

When Victor pulled back, Yuuri felt dizzy with love for the other.


	13. Chapter 13

“Yuuri… жизнь моя… do you really mean it? You want to marry me?”

He chuckled at the question.

“Of course I do. I… I take it, so do you?”

Victor whispered something in Russian, staring at the ring again.

“Yuuri, I never thought… I mean, I always thought it would be impossible, for me to… to have a partner at all. But here in America… we can get married, can’t we?”

He nodded.

“Yes love, we can. If you really want to.”

Victor laughed softly.

“Right, ‘if’.”

Yuuri grinned.

“And the rings, they’re beautiful! The snowflakes match?”

“Mhm. Did you see the inside?”

Victor shook his head, practically ripping off his ring to study the inside as he did. Yuuri waited until he’d studied the engraving and stone before pulling off his own – already, his hand felt strange without it – and showing it to Victor.

“It’s… our first names. And… and diamonds?”

“Yes. There’s… there’s space for a last name, there. If we decide that one of us takes the other one’s name. If you want that.”

A beautiful laugh sounded through the rink, and Victor twizzled away, both rings clutched in his fingers.

Yuuri followed, amused by the man’s obvious delight. As he caught up to him, he heard that the man was mumbling to himself.

“Victor Katsuki? Yuuri Nikiforov? Victor Nikiforov-Katsuki? Or would it be Katsuki-Nikiforov?”

Laughing, he embraced the taller man from behind.

“Whatever you want. Besides, you don’t have to decide now. We have time.”

“Yes…” Victor agreed, obviously not listening.

“Can I have my ring back now?” Yuuri asked, amused at the other man’s delight. He’d hoped for a positive reaction, but he hadn’t expected… this. Then again, who _ever_ expected the force of nature that was Victor.

“Of course! Look, I get to put it on you again!” The Russian crowed as he did just that.

“As often as you want. Now give me yours.”

He felt just as giddy as he slid the other man’s ring back on.

To his surprise, Victor took his hand and pulled him along, skating lazy circles around the decorated rink.

“So Phichit did all this?”

“Yes. He helped set it all up. He kept the rings for me as well.”

“And the rink? Celestino I’m guessing.”

Yuuri nodded.

“Yes. He said that for yesterday and today, he didn’t have any students around, so he offered it to me for this.”

“Did he now?” Victor asked, snickering a little.

“W-What do you mean?”

The Russian gave him a fond look.

“Celestino has seventeen students, including you. You really think that they’re all gone?”

Put that way…

Yuuri flushed.

“I’ll have to thank him again when I see him on Friday.”

“Mh, we both will. Yuuri this… it’s spectacular.”

  
As if to prove it, Victor sped away from him, crossing the rink once, then returning to his side.

“I’m glad you’re happy with it. I… worked hard on it.”

“I love you, Yuuri.”

“I love you too.”

They shared a tender moment, before a grin spread across Victor’s face again.

“Do you think we can have the wedding on the ice too? And is that champagne over there?”

“Victor… no!”


	14. Chapter 14

Going back home after his proposal felt almost… anti-climactic. It felt like they’d been in a dream and then woken back up – except it wasn’t a dream, as their rings proved. They were both a little tipsy from having the champagne so early in the day still, but neither cared.

Yuuri caught himself (and Victor) staring at their rings constantly – neither could help it, it seemed.

By the time they reached their flat, Yuuri already had several emails from Phichit, each with video and photo attachments. He decided to not open them just yet – he’d cried enough for one day.

Instead, he skype-called his family in Japan to give them the good news. They were delighted of course, congratulating them practically non-stop.

Yuuri felt like he was floating through their entire day.

Even his habitual afternoon run seemed to go more smoothly.

Finished with that, he went to the bedroom for a change of clothes, only to come across Victor on their bed, practically buried in a stack of… magazines. Well, less of a stack and more of a heap.

Yuuri didn’t recognise a single one of them, nor the box they seemed to have come in.

He picked one up – to his utter shock, it was a bridal magazine.

“Victor… where are all of these from?” He’d only been on the treadmill for twenty minutes – surely not enough time for Victor to get these delivered?

The Russian shrugged.

“There was a knock, and the box was sitting in front of the door. The note on top of it said ‘Congratulations from Arthur’.”

Yuuri gaped at him for a moment.

“Do you… know who Arthur is?” He asked, careful to keep his voice neutral.

“No. I figured someone else you told about today?”

He sat on a free space on the bed, careful not to nudge any of the magazines Victor had arranged around himself.

“No, it isn’t.” He sighed deeply. “It’s the name of one of Phichit’s hamsters.”


	15. Chapter 15

Victor was still laughing by the time he came out of his post-run shower.

The pile of magazines on the bed had only gotten messier – there was quite literally no space for him to sit.

“I wonder how long Phichit collected these?” Victor asked him, after giving him an appreciative glance in his slightly damp shirt.

He shrugged. “Knowing him, probably since the exact second you came out?”

Victor blinked in confusion.

“You think?”

He picked up one of the magazines, only for Victor to snatch it back and set it down in the same place he’d taken it from.

Apparently, he had some sort of system going.

“I think so. Phichit is… he doesn’t do things halfway.”

“Hm, clearly.”

“You, uh, seem to be enjoying these, a lot?” He asked, mildly concerned.

The Russian laughed softly.

“Well… of course I am. Yuuri, I told you. I was so convinced I could never have this… it never even occurred to me as an option. I never… let myself think about what sort of wedding I would want. Or where, or what flowers, what colours, all of that.”

Melting a little, Yuuri glanced at one of the opened pages.

“I want you to be happy. So, whatever sort of wedding you want, we’ll try to make it happen, okay?”

Victor beamed up at him.

“As long as you’re there, it’ll be perfect. What sort of… what sort of wedding have you imagined for yourself?” The Russian asked cautiously.

He allowed himself a grin and unceremoniously squished himself next to Victor in the small empty space on the bed.

He wasn’t about to tell Victor that the only sort of wedding he’d ever imagined had featured, well him.

“I like lillies. And… and spring, probably?” He instead said, vaguely pointing at some of the pictures before them.

An arm wrapped around his waist, arranging them into a more comfortable position.

“Spring… Yuuri, what if the weather is awful?”

He sighed softly. “Winter then? Around both of our birthdays?”

Victor’s smile brightened impossibly more.


	16. Chapter 16

In the end, wedding planning had to take a backseat to Yuuri’s training pretty quickly. Although he was well aware that Victor spent an ungodly amount of time poring over those magazines, he himself hardly had time for them.

Worlds was approaching, and Celestino was working him hard.

Most days, he was glad to spend some time after training just sitting on the couch with his fiancé – and god he loved saying that – or… _not_ sitting on the couch with his fiancé. He wasn’t particularly picky.

Neither was Victor. The more confidence in himself he got, the more adventurous and open the other man became in the bedroom… and out of it. It hadn’t taken them long to work their way through the list of fantasies they’d told each other in the hotel, and then some.

Stretching out on his couch – alone, unfortunately – Yuuri let his mind wander.

It was almost _too_ wonderful, living together. Yuuri had expected there to be problems, really, the way he and Phichit had initially argued about how often was TOO often when it came to letting the soundtrack of the King and the Skater echo through the flat… but there was nothing of the sort.

The closest thing to that sort of issues that they had was Yuuri not liking that Victor often rearranged his clothes, leaving him unable to find anything. He also frequently bought low-fat foods when Yuuri liked the normal versions better, athlete’s diet be damned.

He grinned to himself. If that was the worst of their conflicts for the rest of their lives, he’d die a very happy man.

Just then, a weight settled on his lap, quite unexpectedly. His eyes fluttered open, only to come face to face with his beautiful future husband. Automatically, his hands settled on Victor’s hips, shifting him a little closer.

“Hey there. Why are you home so early?” He purred, his thumbs slipping under Victor’s shirt, rubbing circles on his skin.

Victor pressed a soft kiss to his jaw.

“Mh, session was cancelled.”

“Oh.” It was the first time that had happened – not that he was complaining. If it hadn’t been cancelled, he’d probably have been asleep by the time Victor came back.

Instead… he let his left hand trail up, underneath Victor’s salmon-pink shirt.

The man’s shudder told him everything he needed to know about the other at the moment.

“Bedroom?” He requested, leaning forward to press a kiss to Victor’s throat.

The other man chuckled.

“Mh, if you want. Or we could stay right here? You’re tired. I could help you… relax.”

Yuuri would have to be dead to turn that offer down.


	17. Chapter 17

“Be right back!” Victor chirped and disappeared from his lap – he missed the man sitting on him immediately.

Letting his eyes fall closed, he relaxed again – he had no idea what Victor had planned, but he was down for whatever it was.

By the time the other man returned, he’d started lightly dozing off – which was why it surprised him so when a length of cool fabric settled across his eyes from behind. A blindfold.

“Victor?”

“Mh? Do you mind?”

“I… well, no?” His heart was beating faster – clearly, Victor really did have a plan.

“Good. Then just sit still and let me…” He trailed off, without mentioning what Yuuri was supposed to let him do.

Still, he liked the surprise.

Gentle hands set about unbuttoning his shirt and brushing it off his chest. They travelled across his torso freely, before reaching lower and tugging on the waistband of his trousers. The button was deftly undone and the zipper lowered – before Victor stopped.

He didn’t have time to be disappointed though, as moments later, soft lips started kissing down his chest. He chuckled as Victor’s long bangs tickled his stomach a little and spread his legs for easier access.

Victor teased him for quite a while before moving lower again, his hands gently freeing him from his underwear.

“Lift your hips?” The other man requested and he obeyed – moments later, the Russian had tugged off his pants and underwear completely. Fighting an entirely inappropriate grin, he settled back down, spreading his legs and arching his back.

Blind as he was, he still heard the way Victor’s breath caught in his throat. He loved that he affected the other man as much as he did him. Moments later, and rather unexpectedly, that familiar weight settled on him again – he’d expected Victor to get on his knees for him, but it seemed the man had other plans.

He found himself kissed, thoroughly and passionately, for quite a while.

The whole time, Victor was shifting on his lap, seemingly impatient. When he tried to put his hands on Victor’s body, they were quickly batted away, followed by a nip to his lower lip.

He returned the favour, well aware of how much Victor liked it when he nibbled on his lips. Indeed, this time was no different.

Still, it seemed Victor was not to be outdone – the other man practically rubbed himself against Yuuri.

He could feel that the other man was wearing a shirt, but no pants – whether he had underwear on, he could only speculate.

Not that he minded doing so.

Still, things were a little too passive for his liking as it was.

He leaned up, kissing Victor more passionately and delighting in the way the man whimpered. Yuuri wrapped his hand in Victor’s hair to hold him closer, ever so pleased when one of Victor’s hands clutched his shoulder for balance.

A moment later, the other man pulled back and broke the kiss.

He pouted softly, pleased when the other man chuckled.

“I love you Yuuri.” Victor said – before he could reply in kind, though, a hand reached for his erection, pumping him a few times.

He settled for a moan and a gentle thrust up – he’d been _waiting_.

And it seemed like he’d have to wait a little longer, because Victor released him again just seconds later.

Wincing in disappointment, he held still as the other man shifted above him a little bit.

He figured out why moments later, his erection nudging against Victor’s ass.

His breath hitched – he hadn’t expected that – nor the fact that he slid in easily as Victor sat down properly. He couldn’t suppress a moan as the tight heat of the other enveloped him.

“V-Victor…” he groaned, his hands snapping around the other man’s waist.

“Mhm? Surprised?”

“Yesss…”

“Mh, I prepared in the shower. You looked so tired I thought I’d do the work, you know?”

He nodded, not really processing what the other said – not when it felt so good.

Victor lifted himself up a little, sinking back down with a quiet sigh. He could tell, though, that the angle wasn’t quite right for the other.

He could fix that.

Before Victor could stop him, he wrapped his arms around the other man’s hips and waist respectively and adjusted them so that they were pressed chest to chest, his legs spread wide, Victor’s wrapped around his hips in reflex.

Perfect.

He could feel himself sliding a little deeper, delighting in the resulting moan – one he was planning on hearing quite a few more times.

“Y-Yuuri, I can’t move like this…” The other man complained.

Yuuri chuckled into his neck, pressing a kiss against the sweaty skin there before starting to move his hips. He couldn’t exactly thrust up very well either, but he could still move – the way Victor shuddered above him, it seemed it was just enough to rub against his prostrate with every move.

Victor was reduced to a shuddering, moaning mess in minutes.

Yuuri could feel the sweat on his brow – it wasn’t easy to keep moving like that, especially not when Victor seemed to hold him tighter by the minute.

He could feel when Victor approached his orgasm, and with a concentrated effort of will, he stopped moving.

Victor gave what could only be described as a disappointed sob.

“W-Why did you stop?”

“I… can’t come like that. Don’t you want to finish together?”

It was a cheap shot – he _knew_ Victor loved it when they finished at the same time.

A soft ‘mhm’ was the only answer he got – then, to his disappointment, Victor straightened his legs and got off him entirely.

“Take off the blindfold.” The Russian ordered – a second later, it went flying as he greedily drank in the sight of his flushed lover – who was already kneeling down again, leaning over the back of the couch, ass up high in the air in invitation.

He nearly stumbled in his haste to close the gap between them.

Victor moaned in abandon when he thrust back in – not as gentle as he could have, but he was too far gone for that. Holding Victor by the hips, he marvelled at how perfect the other was – kneeling on the seat of the couch, he was the perfect height for Yuuri to take him.

His thrusts sped up, fingers tightening on Victor’s hips even more.

It didn’t take long – how could it?

He could tell that Victor’s body tightened around him as he came, and with another thrust, he spilled himself into the other man, giving a few more shallow thrusts that had them both moaning before stepping back and dropping on the couch next to Victor.

The older man sagged against him, uncaring that they were both a sweaty mess.

To his surprise, Victor pouted up at him in… disappointment?

“Yuuuuuri! You were supposed to let me do the work!” The other complained.

“Yes, well, I don’t remember you complaining.” He teased back, relieved that Victor was just teasing. He sometimes still worried, well aware of the issues they had communicating at first.

He ran his fingers up and down Victor’s thigh.

“You surprised me. I figured you’d use your mouth.”

“Hm, thought about it… but then, I wanted you in me. Problem?”

He snorted. Oh yeah, tooootally.

“Of course not. No condom?”

Victor snickered. “Well, I figured I’d need another shower like this. Care to join me?”

They stumbled to the bathroom together, laughing all the way.


	18. Chapter 18

The first problem with their wedding planning arrived at Worlds, of all things. Naturally, Victor accompanied him. After much arguing, Celestino agreed to sign him up as an assistant coach to make sure he could follow Yuuri to all the backstage areas.

They got a fair bit of attention, but it wasn’t until after the short – Yuuri was in third place after his namesake and JJ – in their hotel room, that Yuuri discovered that something was… off with the other.

He caught Victor looking at a list – of names.

At first he thought it was a list of the competitors at the event, but he quickly realised it wasn’t when he saw Phichit’s and Mari’s names on there – and didn’t spot JJ’s.

The heading of the list itself was written in Russian, so he couldn’t read it… but he figured it out well enough when Victor added the rest of his family and Minako, then crossed off Yuri, Mila and Georgi.

His heart clenched in sympathy.

“A guest list?” He asked softly, chuckling when Victor shot off his chair.

“Oh! I didn’t hear you come out of the bathroom. It’s nothing, really.”

“Victor…” He admonished, pleased when, after a moment, Victor gave him the list with a sigh.

“It’s… who I would want there.”

“Why did you cross them off?” He asked, scanning the list further. Chris, Phichit, Leo, Guang-Hong,… a number of skaters they were friendly with. Notably absent was the name of Victor’s coach – at least, Yuuri thought so, until he found it scribbled into the very bottom, in Cyrillic lettering and much smaller than the other writing.

His heart clenched again, tears stinging in his eyes.

“I… I can’t invite them. You know it could affect their careers if they came. I can’t do that to them. It wouldn’t be fair. Besides, they probably wouldn’t come anyway.” He said, his voice bitter.

“Are you sure? I mean… you want them there, right?”

Victor shrugged.

“Well, I can’t have everything I want.”

With that, he crumpled up the list and threw it into the bin, before stalking into the bathroom himself.

Yuuri looked after him, his heart breaking a little bit for the other.

Who said he couldn’t have everything he wanted anyway? Not if Yuuri had anything to say on the matter.

He grabbed the list out of the trash and smoothed out the paper.

Mila, Georgi, Yuri and Yakov…

He gulped.


	19. Chapter 19

Worlds ended in a celebration for them – his free, having always been his strong point, was enough to bring him within two points of the top two skaters – above them, that is.

Yuuri Katsuki won gold at Worlds, his namesake silver, and JJ bronze. All three of them were jubilant – even if JJ was obviously a little salty that he hadn’t placed higher.

Yuuri, meanwhile was floating all the way to the banquet, barely anything even registering to him.

He’d won. He’d WON worlds… and he knew he couldn’t have if it hadn’t been for Victor.

He was watching the Russian across the room, where he was having a flute of champagne and laughing with Chris, who had placed fourth. Smiling softly, he nearly jumped out of his skin when someone touched his shoulder.

He shot around – Mila.

He gasped.

“Hi there. Congrats on your win.”

“Thanks. Congrats on bronze.” He automatically answered – she’d placed third in the woman’s event, after an Italian and American skater, respectively.

He smiled at her – he liked Mila.

“How about you ask me to dance?” She asked, blunt as only a Russian could be.

He was stunned into silence for a moment before holding his hand out to here and doing just that.

They spun on the dancefloor, one of several pairs of dancers there.

“How are you and Victor?” She asked, a few steps in.

“Good. We’re… great.”

“I heard you got engaged.” He blushed with pleasure at the reminder.

“Yes. He… I proposed. On the ice.”

Mila chuckled.

“Yeah, I heard rumours that you did a choreography and learned his signature quad flip?”

“That’s right. I… there’s video? I can send it to you if you want.”

“Please! You two really are something else. When’s the wedding?”

“In… this winter, probably. December.”

Mila smiled softly, glancing over his shoulder for a second. He didn’t know what she was looking at – when he spun them around, whatever it was had disappeared.

“Is… Could I ask you something?” He added when she said nothing more.

“Hm?”

“It’s… a favour.”


	20. Chapter 20

Yuuri hated going behind his fiancés back, but he didn’t see a lot of other options – so, in the middle of the night, a month or so after the end of Worlds, and feeling like an absolute idiot, he snuck through his own flat in order to steal something:

Wedding invitations.

He nabbed a few of the extra wedding invitations from the stack Victor had ordered – a beautiful floral design that he had liked as soon as Victor had shown him. Even in the darkness he had to grin at them as he slid them into the book he was reading, well aware that Victor would leave it be – it was in Japanese, not even with Hiragana to help a non-native understand the text.

He filled them all out at the rink next morning, careful not to be caught by Victor and handed them off – four invitations, express mailed to Russia by the ever-supportive Phichit. He only had Mila’s address, courtesy of the favour he asked her at Worlds, so he sent them all there, confident she would pass them on to their respective recipients.

He really had no idea if any of them would come – or even respond – but he had to try – even if Victor himself had refused to send them invitations… or to discuss the topic with him. He could see it bothered the other man.

As the weeks passed and no RSVPs came, his hopes dwindled a little.

As per Victor’s (and his parents’) insistence, the ceremony would take place in Hasetsu, in the ninja castle Victor had loved so much when they had visited. Knowing that his parents and the Nishigoris would have had a hard time flying out to anywhere else for the ceremony, he was glad.

While he could have just as well seen Victor fit in at some sort of fancy European castle, the choice of location was the perfect compromise for them both – and more importantly, it suited everyone involved.

Doubly so when the forecast announced something rather unusual – snow, on the day of their ceremony, even though it was only late November. Victor loved the idea of it, naturally.


	21. Chapter 21

It was only a few days before their ceremony – the Big Day as he’d mentally called it. He was torn between two feelings – boundless joy at the fact that he was about to start the rest of his life together with his _husband_ and a cocktail of anxiety and guilt at the fact that he’d gone behind Victor’s back to invite the Russians.

He hadn’t heard back from any of them… and with so little time left, he held little hope. He knew that he could just… not say anything. Victor would never know.

It was probably the smarter choice, but… but Yuuri knew.

And he hated that Victor didn’t. He knew it was partly selfish of him to want to tell the other man when it would so probably upset him. At the same time… he couldn’t really marry Victor with a lie between them.

So, his decision made, he went to find and talk to his future husband.

Which… was harder than expected.

It seemed like every time he ran across him in the onsen or rink, the other man was either with someone, or just in the middle of something important. At first, he thought nothing of it, but by the end of the day… well, it was odd.

Victor never brushed him off like that.

Thankfully, he knew that all he had to do was wait for Victor to come to bed.

Which he did… significantly later than usual.

If he hadn’t been deliberately waiting for the other, he would have probably missed it when Victor opened the door, stepped inside and closed it – the man barely made a sound. He waited for Victor to approach the bed before he sat up, hoping not to startle the other.

He didn’t look startled.

He looked… terrified, actually.


	22. Chapter 22

“V-Victor?” He asked, concern overtaking his own thoughts.

“Oh.” Victor replied, his voice dripping with disappointment. “You’re still awake.”

“I… yes? Victor, what’s wrong? You look…” He trailed off, unwilling to say what came to mind – ‘awful’, or ‘like you did in Sochi’.

The Russian shrugged, stepping away from the bed and leaning against the far wall.

“Well, I guess there’s no delaying this, then.” The distance in Victor’s voice nearly killed him – he still had no idea of what was going on.

“D-Delaying what? Victor, I don’t understand?”

The Russian crossed his arms and took a deep breath.

“I… know that you’ve been looking for me all day. I’m sorry I was too much of a coward to have this conversation earlier.”

“You’re not a coward.” He automatically replied, frowning at the other.

“No? Well, I was hoping I could avoid this conversation altogether.” He declared, his face a grimace of… anxiety.

Yuuri gulped – how had he missed that Victor was feeling like this?

“And… what conversation is that?” He asked, hoping for some clarity.

Victor flinched.

“The… conversation where you tell me that you’ve changed your mind? About… marrying me?”


	23. Chapter 23

“Victor, NO!!”

He tripped and fell over the sheets in his hurry to get out of bed and over to the other man.

Yuuri slammed into the ground hard, immediately scrambling back up, not caring at all that he probably looked like a complete idiot.

He finally managed to cross over to the speechless Victor, and immediately wrapped his arm around the other man, his nose uncomfortably colliding with the other man’s collarbone.

Biting back his tears, he squeezed Victor with all the strength he could muster.

“No! No, no, no, please believe me, that’s not it at all! I love you! I can’t wait until I finally get to marry you!” He insisted, aware that he was babbling, but what choice did he have? There was no way he could just _let_ Victor believe something so outrageous.

So lightly he could barely feel it, hands settled on his back.

Victor breathed the quietest ‘Oh…’ at his words, before gently tightening his hold.

“I swear, I’d never change my mind about that! How could you… why would you think that?” It stung a little, that even now Victor would have… doubts, like that.

“W…Well, you…” Victor began, then broke off. Yuuri turned to see the first hint of tears in the other man’s eyes.

He held Victor closer, waiting for him to explain.

He had to make this right.

“You’ve been… distracted. For a few days. Nervous. Fidgety. And then… today, you just… suddenly you seemed so determined to talk to me. I figured you had finally worked out how you felt… and wanted to talk to me about ending our engagement.”

Yuuri huffed.

“There is only one way our engagement is going to _end_ , and that is in marriage.”

Victor’s hold on him tightened.

“I… thought you had more faith in me than that.” He added when the Russian said nothing.

“I-I’m sorry, Yuuri. I… should have done. I was just… scared, and trying to delay the inevitable.”

  
He already had his mouth open for another correction when Victor’s last words registered properly.

“I’m sorry, did you say the _inevitable_?”

The Russian cleared his throat, but stayed quiet.

“Do you really thing I would call this off? Victor, I…” He stopped himself, suddenly more angry than anything else. Did Victor have so little faith in him?

After everything?

Victor began to tremble in his arms.

The fight drained out of Yuuri, quite suddenly.

“Victor… Victor that’s not fair.”

He released the other man and stepped back, eventually sitting on Victor’s side of the bed. He didn’t miss the way the other man reached after him but stopped himself before they touched.

“N-Not fair?”

“Have I ever given you reason to think I would want to not marry you since I proposed?”

The Russian stayed silent, blue eyes directed to his toes.

“Have I?”

Yuuri’s voice was quiet now – he genuinely wanted to know.

Victor still said nothing.

“Victor…” He began again when the other man stayed quiet as the minutes ticked by.

He could see the other man struggle… but there were his own issues too.

“I’m going to go sleep in my old room.” He eventually said, feeling more defeated than he had in some time.

He didn’t make it all the way to the door before Victor stopped him, arms wrapped around him from behind.

“No.” Was the only thing the other man said.

It was his turn to stay quiet – he resisted the urge to lean into Victor.

“No, you haven’t… done anything. I know it’s all me. I _know_ that. It’s just… I can’t help that I feel that way sometimes.”

“Like… like I’ll leave?”

“I’ve _always_ felt that way. From the first time we met. Yuuri… people leave me. That’s how it goes, how it always has. Experience says you will leave too.”

Sighing, he allowed himself to relax a little. At least Victor was communicating now.

“Well, I’m not going to leave.”

“I can tell something has been off with you. Don’t lie to me.”

He winced a little – now was not exactly the ideal time to admit that he had been doing just that.

“I… yes, there is something I wanted to talk to you about. But it had NOTHING to do with not wanting to marry you.”

“T-Then what? I know it’s nothing good?”

He stepped away and Victor released him. Avoiding the other man’s eyes, he sat back down on his side of the bed. He motioned for Victor to do the same – the man stood close to the footboard but made no motion to come any closer than that.

Fine.


	24. Chapter 24

“It’s not… good, no.” He offered, his guilt slowly choking him up a little as he went. He hadn’t had an anxiety attack in some time… but then, things had been good.

Victor cleared his throat and he realised he’d been quiet for some time. Before he could continue, Victor resolutely sat after all, square in the middle of the bed.

“It’s not… that you want to break up?”

“Never.” He assured the man – if he knew anything, it was that.

“Okay. Then… whatever it is it can’t be THAT bad.” The other declared, sounding far more sure than Yuuri felt.

He gulped, looking up. He could tell that Victor was putting on a brave front, but… but… he sort of needed that, apparently.

Taking another deep breath, he forced himself to meet Victor’s eyes.

“I have something to tell you. You’re not going to like it. You’re probably going to be mad at me, but I need to apologise for it anyway.”

The Russian shifted around a bit.

“Okay. So… what did you do?”

“I… I…” He tried, only for his voice to fail him. A tentative hand reached out and settled on his shoulder. He hadn’t expected it to, but the other man’s proximity helped.

“I went behind your back and… I invited Mila and the others.”

The fingers slipped from his shoulder, slowly.

Unable to look at the other man, he sat still and waited for… well, something.

It felt like a lifetime before Victor responded.

“You… invited…?”

He couldn’t make out any emotion in the Russian’s voice, but then he could pretty much guess what he was feeling either way.

When a moment later, Victor jumped off the bed and started pacing the room, he knew he’d been right.

“So… you invited them. Behind my back. After I said it wouldn’t be fair to them to invite them when they would risk damaging their careers by being in contact with a _disgraced_ gay man?” Victor snarled at him.

Too riled up to even flinch, he simply nodded.

“And… and what happened?”

That time he _did_ flinch.

“Well… nothing. I didn’t hear back. I was… thought about not telling you, but I didn’t want to start our marriage with a lie between us.”

Victor froze mid-step.

“Right. So that’s what you’ve been agonising over, apparently.”

He nodded again.

“Yuuri…” Victor began, his voice deceptively calm. “Do you have ANY idea how angry I am at you?”

Well, he’d had an inkling.

Looking up, he found that Victor was practically looming over him, dwarfing him more than usual.

“I… had an idea.”

Victor snorted.

“Obviously not! Yuuri, how could you?”


	25. Chapter 25

“L-Look, I’m sorry! I thought that maybe… I mean, I know you wanted them here? I was just… I want it to be perfect for you.” He said, his voice a little too high for his liking.

Victor, who had been pacing again, froze mid-step.

“You… what?” To Yuuri’s surprise, Victor sounded more confused than angry now.

“I… wanted to make you happy by inviting them?” He asked, unsure if Victor had misunderstood him – or was he missing something?

Victor cursed, in Russian – he’d learned that much, by now.

“You… You think that’s why I’m mad at you? Because you invited them?”

“Uh… yes?” Now he was sure that he was missing something.

Victor stood by the side of the bed and let himself fall on it backwards.

“Oh, that’s just precious. Yes, Yuuri, I’m angry at you, but not for THAT.”

“T-Then why? That I lied?”

Victor waved his hand in the air.

“I’m not happy about that, but Yuuri, are you seriously not getting this?”

Victor sat up again, his restless energy evidently still not spent. Yuuri felt the same – except he was frozen in place.

“Yuuri Katsuki, the REASON I am mad at you is that you LET ME BELIEVE YOU WERE GOING TO LEAVE ME over something like THIS!”

If he’d been physically capable of it, his jaw would have hit the floor.

Suddenly free to move, he jumped up, pacing in the same place Victor had done just minutes earlier.

“THAT is why you’re mad at me?” He repeated, caught in sheer disbelief.

Victor, who was quietly chuckling on the bed, nodded.

“Yuuri, why would I be mad at you for… for trying to be nice to me?”

“Because I lied? And you asked me not to?”

The Russian sat up again.

“Okay… so why didn’t you listen when I said not to contact them?”

Yuuri didn’t like how much calmer the other man sounded – that was usually his role. He really was out of his depth here.

“Because I thought they deserved to make their own decisions about whether or not they’d attend.”

Victor chuckled.

“That’s not a reason to be mad at _anyone_.”

“The lying then.”

“Again, I’m not pleased, but Yuuri do you have any idea what the last day and a half were _like_ for me? I genuinely thought you were just trying to find a way to break up with me painlessly.”

Before he could deny it again, Victor held up his hand to silence him.

“I know that that was… mostly my head, but Yuuri that doesn’t make it any less… real, for me. The fear. I thought… I thought I’d have to go back to how it was… before.”

Victor looked at him, his eyes pleading for Yuuri to understand.

He did.


	26. Chapter 26

Slowly, as if he was doing it for the first time, he reached out to take Victor’s hand, to pull the man up and against himself.

Victor moved with him, no hesitation whatsoever.

“I would… never. Not while I’m alive. Victor, I _love_ you. I’ve been torturing myself, trying to think of ways to tell you that would be… I don’t even know.”

The Russian sighed, his anger fading to obvious annoyance.

“Well you screwed this up then.”

Yuuri winced – Victor was right but the comment still stung him where it hurt.

“I’m sorry, I really am.”

Trembling a little, he took Victor’s hand and pressed a kiss to the engagement ring there.

The other man chuckled weakly.

“Goddamn you… and of course you make it impossible for me to be mad at you as well.”

He looked up at the other man in confusion.

“What do you…”

Victor pressed a kiss to his temple.

“You’re so… sincere when you apologise. Makes it very hard to yell at you.”

Allowing himself a small smile, he shrugged.

“I’d rather you not yell at me anyway? I really did mean it when I said I’m sorry.”

The Russian nodded, before resolutely taking a step back.

Yuuri thought he’d have a heart attack when, a moment later, Victor gracefully lowered himself to one knee and took his hand.

“Then, I suppose it’s my turn. I’m sorry too, for assuming the worst and not trusting you more. You’re right, it _wasn’t_ fair of me. If… if you’ll have me, I’d like to make it up to you… as your husband?”

He laughed softly.

“Victor… are you proposing to me? Directly after we had... our first fight, I guess?"

Victor shrugged and considered it for a second before seemingly coming to a conclusion.

“I suppose I am. So what do you say?” Victor asked.

The Russian chuckled and pressed a kiss to Yuuri’s ring the way he had done earlier when he said nothing for a moment.

Yuuri could almost taste the relief he felt, though, and no doubt Victor too.

“I say my proposal was way better.”

“Yuuuuuri!” The Russian whined.


	27. Chapter 27

A moment later, he found himself wrapped in a hug – it felt like years since he’d last hugged the other man properly.

With a little coaxing, despite their frayed nerves, Yuuri convinced Victor to lay down with him on the bed.

Fingers laced together, they cuddled for a few minutes before Yuuri broke the silence.

“I’m sorry I let it get to this. I thought you didn’t… realise I was upset.”

Victor nudged him with his big toe.

“Of course I can tell. I can always tell.”

“I guess I underestimated you.”

“And I overreacted.”

He leaned forward to kiss Victor.

“Chalk it up to pre-wedding jitters?”

“Fine by me.” Victor replied, wrinkling his nose.

“Then can I ask… how do you actually feel about me having sent them invitations?”

The fingers tangled in his tightened their hold for a moment.

“I’m… not sure. I’m so overwhelmed at the moment, I barely know how I feel. I’m… a little upset you lied, a little… glad that you didn’t listen to me and really disappointed that they didn’t respond.”

Yuuri nodded. He felt the same.

“I’m really sorry. I really… really wanted them to be here for you.”

Victor smiled at him softly.

“It’s okay. At least for Mila and Georgi I know that they… are here for me, even if it can’t be in person.”

  
“And Yuri?”

Victor snickered.

“He’d just be rude to the other guests, wouldn’t he?”

His lips twitched into a small smile – the other man… wasn’t wrong, exactly.

“Even so, Yuuri… the wedding will be wonderful. Everything we need will be there.”

“Oh?”

“Mhm. You, and me. Everything else is just icing on the cake.”

Victor pressed a soft kiss to his lips and melted a little at the love the simple gesture held.

“You forgot one thing we need.”

“Hm?”

“Makka. We can’t get married without our ring bearer!”

Victor laughed – if the sound was a little too loud because of their emotional turmoil, he understood.

“Very true. Do you think she’ll look better in a suit or a tutu?”

Victor pursed his lips in deep thought.

Yuuri snuggled closer to him.

“How about one for the ceremony and the other for the reception?”


	28. Chapter 28

Makka proved significantly LESS willing than their other guests to dress up for the event. In fact, after about an hour of trying to get the little suit they’d bought her on, they gave up and went for a soak in the hot springs.

“That… was more of a work-out than I needed, the day before my wedding.” Victor panted, still out of breath a good ten minutes after they’d sat down.

Yuuri groaned in agreement.

“She’s normally so docile and obedient! Who knew she hated formalwear so much?” He eventually asked. Victor shrugged.

“Who knows. Maybe she really would have preferred the tutu?”

“Victor she ATE the tutu.”

The other man sighed – during one failed attempt and consequent escape, she’d torn clear into her supposed second outfit.

“So, I guess we should just put a bowtie on her collar?”

Victor nodded.

“As long as Mari puts it on her.”

He sank lower into the hot water.

“That… sounds fair.”

Just then, someone stepped out into the bathing area. It took him a moment to work out who it was without his glasses on – the familiar clothes gave it away though.

“Dad? What’s up?”

“You two have some more guests arriving. Why didn’t you tell me there would be more?”

He exchanged a glance with Victor.

“Because… there aren’t?”

  
“Well, they asked me to get you two, so hurry up and come inside to meet them! It’s rude to keep them waiting, Yuu-chan!”

Groaning, he stood, his towel wrapped around his hip like usual. He never quite had gone back to bathing without the towel – Victor preferred it, and he knew it made him more comfortable if Yuuri had one too, thus not making him the odd one out.

They made their way back inside, still tired and sore from their attempts to dress Makka.

When, clad in matching jinbeis, they stepped into the main area again, they easily spotted the little hellion – laying on her back, chewing what looked like her favourite ball.

Petting her was… Mila Babicheva.


	29. Chapter 29

His breath caught painfully in his throat as he recognised the beautiful redhead who was petting their dog with abandon.

Frozen mid-step as he was, Victor banged right into him when he followed – only to freeze right by his side. The Russian recovered first, cautiously stepping over to the woman.

Yuuri was fighting tears at the way the two Russians hugged hello – they had clearly missed each other dearly. Feeling misty-eyed as he was, he almost missed the sniffling sound coming from the entrance.

Taking a step forward, he saw Georgi, standing there clutching a tissue, sobbing like a little kid.

His heart soared.

They’d come. Victor’s friends had come for their wedding.

Victor spotted Georgi at that very moment and immediately darted over to hug him as well, before immediately chattering away at him in Russian.

Yuuri, meanwhile, stepped over to Mila to greet her, noting that she was looking as affected as he felt.

“Hi.” He quietly greeted her. “Thanks… thanks for coming.”

He wasn’t sure what else to say – he had no idea how to convey the things he felt, the sheer gratitude their appearance filled him with.

Mila linked their arms together and leaned against him a little.

“Of course we did. It’s Victor.”

“You… didn’t RSVP?”

Mila shrugged.

“We figured if we did, Victor might do something stupid like un-invite us, so we don’t come here and publicly associate with him.”

He sighed deeply – she’d pretty much hit the nail on the head.

“It… means a lot to him that you’re here.” He replied, pleased when Mila laughed.

“He means a lot to us too. It… it’s really awful that we can’t openly support our best friend in his relationship.”

  
Yuuri nodded – he hated… well, how things were, in Russia.

“So you’re here in secret?”

Mila shook her head.

“Not at all. We had a talk about it, and we just decided… well, Victor chose his happiness over silly things like skating. We’d be awful friends if we didn’t support that, at least a little.”

Yuuri nodded, sniffling a little bit at the other skater’s words – Victor really had good friends in them.

“Oh gooood, what’s going on in here? Why are all of you geezers being so disgusting?” A familiar voice snarled from the door – Yuuri didn’t have to look to know that it was his namesake that had spoken.

A broad smile spread on his face as he watched Victor practically tackle the teen, who genuinely seemed to try to get away from his exuberant greeting – not that Victor let go.

He chuckled.

“You brought Yuri along too?” He asked Mila after a few moments.

“He’ll deny it, but he was the first one to say we should go. His actual words were something like ‘I’ll go as long as there’s food and I don’t have to dance’.”

Yuuri laughed openly – he believed that.

Yuri, who had managed to finally free himself from Victor, was currently hissing and spitting at him Russian – Yuuri didn’t understand a word of it.

Glancing back at Mila, who seemed content to watch with him, he asked quietly: “And… Yakov?”

He knew Victor wanted his coach there too.

She lightly shook her head, eyes cast down.


	30. Chapter 30

“That’s… that’s okay. It’s wonderful that you three came.” He assured her.

“I’m glad you think so. It’s been quite the flight.”

“Oh?” He asked, stepping away and towards the kitchen to make the three some tea. Mila casually strolled after him towards the kitchen.

“Mhm. I had the aisle seat. Yuri the middle.”

  
He chuckled as he set the water to boil and prepared cups for them all.

“Do you have a place to stay here in Hasetsu?”

“Not yet. I was hoping you’d be able to point us in the right direction. We had… well, we didn’t quite know where we were supposed to be, so we didn’t know what hotel to book.”

He nodded.

“That’s fine. There are two pretty nice guest houses near here that have spaces free still. I know the owners.”

The Russian laughed.

“Yes, it seems to be the kind of place where everyone knows everyone. Anyone here that I would know?”

Grinning as he finished their tea, he listed the skaters and guests that she knew – and prepared her for who she didn’t. In other words: Phichit, mostly.

Mila helped him serve the tea, and they all set around one of the low tables in the common area – Victor so close to him that their thighs brushed.

He easily saw that the other man was deeply affected by their late arrival guests – truthfully, he was too.

While he didn’t know them well, he liked Mila and the others – even his namesake and his horrible attitude.

He was more than pleased that they would be at his wedding – and he would have been even if Victor hadn’t been so obviously pleased that they had showed up.

About twenty or so minutes into them sitting around the table, he quietly excused himself and retreated to their shared bedroom, where he laid down on the bed and allowed himself a truly silly grin.

It had worked. They’d come in time for the wedding.

A soft knock startled him out of his thoughts – he looked up, surprised to find that it was Victor standing in the doorframe.

“Victor? Since when do you knock on the door?”

The other man shrugged.

“I wasn’t sure how you were feeling. Is everything okay? You left quite suddenly.”

Yuuri laughed and sat up.

“Yeah, everything is fine. I just… wanted to let you all catch up in peace. I was going to call Phichit and let him know.”

Victor nodded.

“This… Yuuri, I really didn’t expect this. I don’t really know how to thank you for it. You have no idea what this means to me.”

He reached out his hand, pleased when Victor took it and joined him on the bed.

“I’m glad. I’m happy that you’re happy.”

The Russian pressed a kiss to his shoulder.

“So… how _can_ I thank you for making my wedding perfect?”

Yuuri thought about it for a moment.

“Say ‘I do’ tomorrow?”

Victor’s smile could have melted icebergs.


	31. Chapter 31

It really did snow the morning of their wedding.

As expected, Victor was _delighted_.

They’d decided to forego the tradition of not seeing each other before the ceremony – with their respective issues, neither was particularly keen… and there was no reason to do it, anyway.

It wasn’t the only tradition they’d skipped.

Instead of a best man each, they had simply selected two witnesses each for the ceremony.

Victor had initially asked Chris and his father to take those roles – his father happily bowed out in favour of Yuri, though. Yuuri had seen Victor ask – he hadn’t even gotten halfway through explaining what he wanted to ask their most recent guests when the youngest had snarled that he’d do it.

In fact, Victor hadn’t even gone around to specifying who among the three he was asking… but then Yuuri was fairly certain he was happy with his two choices.

Yuuri himself had asked Mari and Phichit, of course – they were the obvious choices, and had happily accepted his request.

The rest of their guests – skaters, friends, family, had each gotten a spot in the large courtyard of the castle. Since it was snowing, they’d rented and put up large space heaters to make it possible to stay outside for the event – not that Yuuri or Victor were particularly bothered by the temperatures either way.

They had more important things to think about.

The ceremony itself was, after some shuffling about, orchestrated by Minako, at her request. A local pastor had also offered, but she had insisted – it was more personal that way.

Given that they were both men and Yuuri had shot down any and all suggestions that one of them wear a dress, they had settled on two complimentary suits – Yuuri’s was black with a white shirt, Victor’s was white with a black shirt – and a matching blue rose in their button holes.

Yuuri had let Victor help him with his appearance – doing his hair, even applying some light makeup. There hadn’t been a ‘reveal of the bride’ moment, but the closeness they both felt as they got ready for the big moment was better than anything else could have been.

They did have to separate, briefly – so that Yuuri could stand at the front, waiting for Victor. He walked out, between the rows of chairs, with the same song playing that Yuuri had proposed to – ‘Can’t help falling in love’.

Yuuri’s father had insisted on walking Victor down the aisle – he’d seen how misty-eyed his fiancé had gotten when Yuuri’s dad had taken his arm and walked him down.

Yuuri had nearly cried as well – he managed to fight it off though. He was determined NOT to cry on the happiest day of his life.

When Victor’s hand settled into his, in front of the altar, Victor staring down at him with love, awe, and a bit of disbelief at the sight of their joined hands.

He felt the same, hardly able to believe that Victor was standing before him, willing to marry him. That he was marrying Victor.

Minako had to call out to them twice, they were so lost in each other’s love, they missed their prompts for the ‘I Do’s’.


	32. Chapter 32

Being married to Victor Nikiforov was… an emotional rollercoaster.

They’d only _been_ married for about a minute, their first kiss as husbands barely over, when Yuuri found himself swept up in Victor’s arms, the Russian spinning them around, twirling down the aisle he himself had walked not long ago.

He was vaguely aware they were making a spectacle of themselves – so he held on to Victor, kissing him when the other man leaned close enough to do so – he’d make sure it was a spectacle worth watching, at least.

When he was placed back down, it didn’t feel like it. He was sure he was still walking on clouds. If it hadn’t been for Victor’s fingers linked with his, he’d have probably floated away.

Yuuri hardly listened to all the congratulations, to the people wishing them well – and looking at Victor, the other man didn’t either.

What was going around them – people chatting, laughing, taking pictures of them, with them, it all faded to background noise.

He’d never understood why people said that their wedding was the happiest day of their lives, not until he held his _husband’s_ hand, as they walked all the way back to the onsen, where the reception was.

Sure, they could have driven, but they had timed it so that they were crossing the bridge just as a stunning sunset coloured the sky, reflecting off the largely untouched snow that covered the ground just enough to sparkle under the receding sunlight.

Yuuri barely saw the colours – the only one he was interested in was the bright blue of his husband’s – his HUSBAND’S – eyes.

And Victor, ever-perfect, matched him step by step, emotion by emotion.

There was a banquet prepared for them when they got back. He had no idea how his mother had managed, but their largest dining hall was decked and covered in enough dishes to feed a small army.

Victor and him sat in the middle of the long table, their seats just a little bit raised above the pillows their guests sat on. It was tradition, he’d whispered to Victor, who had seemed far too busy investigating the myriad of dishes on offer to really listen.

He stared in awe at the scene before him, the way the lively and happy chatter filled the room. Makka was laying in a corner, chewing on something someone had fed her. His parents were giggling to themselves, Mari was pouring Minako more sake.

Phichit was talking Celestino into selfies, while the Nishigoris were scolding their kids into relative silence. Chris was laughing at something Georgi had said, Mila meanwhile teasing Yuri about something or other. Leo, Guang-Hong and the others were either eating, chatting or snapping pictures.

Everyone was… happy.

What more could one wish for at a wedding?

He heard a faint knock and was ready to ignore the sound when he happened to glance up and froze. Even though Yuuri saw him first, it was Victor who dropped his chopsticks at the sight before them.


	33. Chapter 33

Looking distinctly uncomfortable in his skin, Yakov Feltsman stood in the doorway that led to their dining hall.

Aware of the newlyweds sudden silence, one by one, their guests also quieted and turned to look at the newcomer – most weren’t aware of what had happened between Victor and Yakov, but they had enough of an idea to, well, stare.

In less than a minute, total silence reigned instead of the happy chatter from just a moment ago.

Victor’s hand twitched over, grabbing his own… and demonstratively placing it on the table between them. He wasn’t making any point their rings weren’t already proving, but he still appreciated the gesture.

After what seemed like an eternity, Yakov cleared his throat, clearly as nervous and apprehensive as those who knew what was going on were.

“Is there… might there be another seat at the table for a stubborn old man?” He eventually asked, his low voice slow and measured – so different from when they had yelled at each other before.

Yuuri immediately turned to Victor – it was his decision, his alone.

His husband tightened his grip on Yuuri’s hand, before glancing across the table – Chris and Minako were sitting, side by side. Before Victor could so much as open his mouth to ask, the two had shuffled apart a little, someone else – it might have been his mother – passing down another seat cushion.

Struggling a little to fit his large frame to the table comfortably, Yakov sat, in complete silence.

He didn’t miss the way Victor was trembling by his side – he wrapped his arm around the other man’s back – he could support him, openly now. Forever.

“Congratulations on your marriage.” Yakov offered, his voice stiff – it sounded almost practised.

For a moment, nobody said anything.

Then, Victor whispered a quiet “Thank you.”, and slowly, cautiously, people went back to what they had been doing, if a little more subdued.

Yakov just sat, awkwardly, hardly even moving.

Forcing down the anxiety that was starting to well up in him, he forced himself to make eye contact with the other.

“Why don’t you try some of the katsudon? It’s delicious.”

He reached over and handed the right bowl to Yakov who accepted it with a nod. He didn’t seem to be particularly hungry, but if the way Victor leaned into him was anything to go by, that didn’t matter.

The rest of the dinner passed in something of a blur, until finally, their guests went on their way.

In the end, the only one not living with his family that remained was Yakov… who had hardly spoken a word to anyone the entire time he had been there.

Yuuri knew that he and Victor needed to talk, but when he found himself trying to make his excuses so that they could do just that, Victor interrupted him, reminding him in no unkind terms that they were married, and he wanted him there.

He stayed put, next to his husband, and opposite of his old coach.


	34. Chapter 34

“Victor… I… came to congratulate you on your wedding. You too, of course, Katsuki.” The Russian eventually said.

Yuuri gulped.

“Thank you.” He forced out when Victor said nothing. He placed a hand on his husband’s lower back, to reassure him.

“I didn’t expect to see you here.” Victor eventually said – cautious, as if he expected the situation to blow up any second.

“And I wasn’t sure I’d really come.” Yakov replied, his tension evidently easing a little. “It was… last minute.”

Victor nodded.

“I owe you an apology. Both of you.” The Russian coach eventually said, his voice gruff. It was painfully obvious that apologising didn’t come natural to the other.

“What part of what you did to me are you apologising for?” Victor asked, his voice frosty.

He’d never expected to see Yakov flinch, but that was exactly what happened – Yuuri would have felt sorry for him if he hadn’t contributed to Victor’s suffering for so long.

“All of it. Victor… if you’re willing to listen, I’d like to explain some things to you?”

He could sense his husband’s hesitation, but… but Victor had WANTED Yakov here.

He pressed a gentle kiss to Victor’s fingers and nodded at Yakov to proceed.

“You know about how it is, in Russia. You’ve seen it. I didn’t… I was trying to protect you from the hate, the judgement.” He began, his fingers fiddling with a pair of chopsticks.

“Protect me.” Victor echoed, his fingers a vice grip on Yuuri’s.

“Yes, protect you. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. I thought… I thought this would absolutely destroy you. So many ways it could have gone wrong, all of this.” Yakov gestured towards him.

Biting down his own response, he looked to Victor.

“Destroy me? Yakov, I was _miserable_. I was ready to throw myself off a roof, that’s how bad it was.”

He flinched – it was… rare to hear Victor openly speak about it like that – while he admitted to his depression, he rarely if ever gave details.

“I didn’t know. I thought… it was the right thing for you. You were good at fooling me, at fooling everyone.”

“Not Yuuri.” Victor snarled back, yanking him closer, nearly off his seat.


	35. Chapter 35

“No, not Katsuki. Thank god for that.” Yakov smiled, mirthlessly. “Victor, please believe me when I tell you that I wish things were different. I’m not unsympathetic. I’ve seen what can happen though, when things go wrong.”

The other Russian seemed to be looking through them, seeing something else entirely.

“When I first started as a coach, I had another skater, a young one. He was also gay, and he wanted to be open about it, despite the stigma. I was willing to ignore it – it was his decision.”

The large man heaved a sigh.

“It wasn’t so bad, at first. Initially, he was written off as a weirdo, but once he started to compete in the bigger national competitions, people started to… notice. He started getting letters. Threats. Red paint splashed on his car. You understand?”

Victor nodded, slowly, his arm around Yuuri trembling lightly.

“One night he got… well, he was held up. Mugged you might say. They stabbed him in the leg. It ended his career. The police didn’t really much investigate – barely even looked at the scene, didn’t write his testimony down.”

Yuuri gulped, his heart going out to the poor man – he couldn’t imagine the torture he had to have gone through.

“I stayed in touch, after he quit. His… his partner left him to get married to a woman. He ended up alone. An alcoholic, until he died.”

Victor started shaking harder, holding on to Yuuri like a lifeline.

He was ready to whisper his assurances to Victor, that that would never happen to him, that he wasn’t alone, that he never would BE alone either… but to his surprise, a moment later, Victor’s trembling stopped.

“I’m not him.” He declared, his voice sure.

“No, you are not. However, after Mikhail, I never… I made sure that nothing like that would happen to my skaters. There were a few. Many of them, eventually got married normally. It was never… an issue, not like with you.”

Victor took a deep breath next to him, releasing him enough that he could sit up properly.

“So that’s why you were so harsh with me? You wanted to protect me?” He could hear the sliver of hope in the other man’s voice – he could tell Victor WANTED to forgive Yakov… he just wasn’t sure he knew how.

“Of course. As for your… mental struggles, I have always been… harsh to my skaters. I have that reputation. You never seemed… like the type to struggle with it.”

“Since I was a teenager.” Victor replied bitterly.

“So I have learned. I… truly didn’t know. There are many things I would have done differently, had I known.”

Yuuri gulped – he felt like he didn’t belong, he wasn’t supposed to be part of the conversation, now. As if he sensed his discomfort, Victor shot him an undecipherable look, brushing their hands together again.

“Will you do things differently, now?” Victor asked and Yakov sighed.

“The law hasn’t changed. The stigma hasn’t changed. But… well, should the situation ever… repeat, I would at least know of a good role model to recommend to my skater.”

Yuuri did a double-take – it was so awkwardly phrased he almost missed the… compliment, the praise in the other man’s tone.

“A role model? Me?” Victor laughed tonelessly.


	36. Chapter 36

“I imploded and ended my career.” He continued, his eyes looking through Yakov as if he wasn’t there.

The older Russian gave Yuuri a searching look before shrugging.

“You won’t know this, but your popularity in Russia has exploded since your… press conference. Not so much with the elders or the officials, but as Mila and Yuri tell me, there is an entire generation of younger people that are idolising you for your… bravery.”

Yuuri felt himself choking up a little – the role suited Victor. He could see how a gay teenager might… feel inspired by him. Yuuri himself had been often enough, even without knowing the other was like him.

He fondly squeezed his husband’s arm, pleased when Victor’s fingers kept his hand there, almost subconsciously.

“So you’ve come here to… what? Tell me that you’re sorry?” Victor eventually asked in the heavy silence.

Yakov shifted in his seat.

“Yes. I thought perhaps it was… not too late to mend fences.”

“I’m NOT going back to competing.” Victor replied frostily.

“I didn’t mean that. While I personally don’t… understand your choices, I’m trying to respect them. That does not mean that we can’t be… friendly towards each other.”

Victor huffed. “Doesn’t it? I mean, if you are too ‘friendly’ with me, you’ll lose your students.”

The other man laughed, surprisingly loudly.

“You think a brat or two less matters to me? I’m the best coach in Russia. That’s why they come to me.”

After another prolonged silence, Yakov asked Victor something – in Russian. Clearly, he was not meant to understand.

Doing his best not to be offended, Yuuri kept an eye on how Victor reacted. The man sneered, huffed, then chuckled. After a few seconds, he replied, his voice soft: “More than ever, Yakov.”

The other Russian nodded, while Victor stood and excused himself. Yuuri didn’t fancy being alone with the older man, but Yakov didn’t seem to be harbouring any ill will towards him.


	37. Chapter 37

“It seems that I really was wrong then. I only came to the reception, not the ceremony because I thought I should not interrupt your vows.”

Yuuri found himself chuckling, despite himself.

“You would have been welcome there too, coach Yakov.”

“Really? You are very… forgiving.”

Yuuri wasn’t sure if he meant it as a compliment or not.

“Am I? I just know that Victor cares for you.”

“I did not… expect Mila to give me the invitation he sent.”

Yuuri grinned weakly.

“Well, he didn’t. I’m the one who sent you all invitations behind his back.”

“That boy…”

Fighting the urge to tell him that Victor wasn’t a boy, Yuuri shrugged.

“He was concerned about the other’s careers.”

Yakov sighed and leaned back a little.

“And once upon a time I would have shared his concerns, but truthfully, I think he is too worried. Being gay and supporting someone who is are… not the same. Many younger people resent the way it is in Russia. They will be just fine. Maybe… it’s a nudge in the right direction?”

Yuuri sipped from his glass.

“I told him that it was their decision to make, whether they wanted to come or not.”

“You are not the man I expected you to be, Katsuki.”

“What man is that?”

The Russian gave him a measured look that made him shiver with its intensity.

“You skate inconsistent. Sometimes you fall, sometimes you rival Victor’s performances. I thought… perhaps your feelings were the same.”

Yuuri stared down at his glass, suddenly understanding the other man’s position a little better.

“I’m not like that.”

“So I learned. I’m glad for it too. Victor is… different. I hadn’t expected so much change.”

Grinning, because dammit he was PROUD of Victor’s progress, Yuuri nodded.

“He has been doing so well. He agreed to talk to someone, and it really seems to help.”

Just then, a familiar voice – his husband – called to him from another part of the onsen.

“Excuse me.” He said to the Russian coach as he walked past.

He hesitated for a second in the door. “If… if you’d like, I can have my parents make up a room for you, if you want to stay here.”

The other man laughed.

“That’s very kind of you, but I would not want to inflict myself on your newlywed bliss. I remember how me and Lilia were when we first got married… ah such a long time ago…”

Yuuri got out of there as fast as he could, hoping he wouldn’t ever have to think about Yakov and his wife in their ‘newlywedded bliss’ ever again.


	38. Chapter 38

Finding Victor proved to be easy – he was waiting right outside the banquet hall door, actually, smiling.

As soon as he stepped outside, the Russian pulled him into a hug and pressed a kiss to his lips.

“I hope he didn’t say anything rude?” Victor mumbled as they quietly walked further from the room.

“No… he didn’t, actually. He… was nice.”

Victor sighed in relief.

“That’s… good. Are you mad that he’s here?”

Yuuri chuckled.

“Mad? I’m the one who invited him. How do YOU feel about it?”

His husband – HUSBAND – shrugged.

“I’m… not sure yet, to be honest. It’s… I’m glad he’s here. It was nice to hear some of the things he said.”

Yuuri hummed in agreement – he obviously didn’t share in the past between the two Russians, but he could see that their shared history meant something to them both.

“Why the sudden escape?”

Victor gave him a (fake) withering glare.

“Well, it’s past ten already. Wouldn’t you say it’s time for the newlywed couple to retreat on their first night together.”

Chuckling, Yuuri shook his head.

“Why didn’t you tell Yakov you wanted to go to bed?”

Victor’s grimace seemed all too real.

“That… just no. This was easier and less embarrassing.”

Yuuri couldn’t argue with that.

Mila, who had surprisingly stayed behind, had volunteered to take care of finding her coach a place to stay – with an exaggerated wink telling them both that they looked quite ‘tired’. It saved them from having to make awkward goodbyes with the other man – in fact, they didn’t have to speak to anyone at all, that evening.

It seemed everyone in Yuuri’s family had collectively decided to let them enjoy their time together – he was incredibly grateful, of course.

It also meant that there was nobody to see them when, quite spontaneously, in front of their bedroom door, he snatched Victor up and carried him across the threshold, so to speak, both of them giggling like schoolkids as he did so.


	39. Epilogue

Two hours later, they were laying next to each other, both of them heaving for breath, equally exhausted. Yuuri thought he might never be able to walk again, the way he felt.

With a concentrated effort, he rolled over to face his equally exhausted husband, well aware that he was still grinning like a maniac.

Victor leaned over, pressing a kiss to his lips.

“That was…”

“Yeah.” Victor agreed, mirroring his grin.

“We’re married…” He whispered, so quiet that he thought Victor might not have even heard.

The look Victor shot him, so full of pure happiness and love said otherwise.

“Do you have the time?” Victor eventually asked, tearing Yuuri from his train of thought.

The man wanted the TIME?

“Uh… what?”

“What time is it? I’d check my phone but I’m pretty sure my legs won’t carry me over there.”

Yuuri snickered and reached behind himself, fumbling for his phone – past midnight, but only just.

He told Victor so, and the man nodded, apparently satisfied.

Tossing his phone over his shoulder again, Yuuri gathered Victor into his arms.

“We should go to sleep, we have an early morning tomorrow.” Victor remarked, and Yuuri shot him a disbelieving look. Victor wanted him to get up early the day after their wedding?

Yuuri wasn’t sure he’d get back up again, ever, but certainly not early.

“You… know we can just sleep in, right? Nobody is gonna wake us.”

The other man snickered.

“Not if you want to come with me.”

“Oh? Where are we going?” They’d made no plans – not beyond staying in Hasetsu for another week or so, anyway.

Victor’s arms tightened around him in a crushing hug.

“Well, our honeymoon of course.”

“Our… honeymoon?”

“Mhm!”

“We… have a honeymoon planned?” He asked, unsure how he had missed Victor planning one. The man was many things, but subtle or discreet wasn’t among them.

“You haven’t looked at our wedding gifts?” The Russian pouted. Yuuri shook his head.

“Too busy admiring my gorgeous husband.” He replied, Victor pretending to faint at his words.

“Good excuse. There was an envelope on the table with the gifts.” Victor explained.

Yuuri had seen the table at the reception that their guests had left their gifts on before and after the ceremony itself, but he hadn’t bothered with them – he figured they’d have time for that later.

“An envelope… from…?”

Victor shrugged.

“It wasn’t signed, but it had tickets and reservations for a honeymoon for us.”

Yuuri hummed, trying to figure out who might have given them something so… lavish.

Victor cleared his throat. “I… suspect it was Yakov? The letter appeared while we were at the ceremony.”

Yuuri found himself chuckling softly.

“Is that so? That’s… very nice of him.”

“Mhm. Do you want to go? Even if it’s from him?”

Yuuri leaned back to frown down to the other man.

“Why would I not want to go because it’s from Yakov?”

His husband shrugged.

“I know you’re not… too fond of him.”

“Well… no, but you are? Besides, I’m happy he came. And that he apologised. I know he means a lot to you.” Victor squeezed him, not replying.

“When, uh, what time do we have to go?”

“Flight’s at nine.”

He groaned. “So we have to get up at what, six?”

Victor nodded.

“Why did you wait until now to tell me?” He asked the other, his fingers brushing through Victor’s hair.

“Mh…. Had other things on my mind.” He said, placing a nibbling kiss to Yuuri’s shoulder.

“Good excuse.” Scooting down a little, he kissed Victor, deeply. He could feel himself getting hard again – he hadn’t expected it so quickly. Victor hadn’t either, if his quiet moan was anything to go by.

“Your stamina is insane, Yuuuuri! You’ll be the death of me at this rate!” The other complained.

“Didn’t hear you complaining earlier.” He quipped, pressing a kiss to his husband’s forehead.

Victor’s reply was too grumbled for him to catch.

Probably better that way.

Wriggling a little closer still, thrusting himself against Victor’s thigh, a question occurred to him – only to take a backseat to the feeling of Victor wrapping his hand around him and pumping him gently.

Moaning quietly, he revelled in the feeling – even though he was still quite sensitive, the other man’s touch felt wonderful.

“Sorry, I don’t think I’m quite recovered yet.” Victor said, a slight flush across his face.

“I don’t mind.” He assured the other – and he didn’t.

There were plenty things they could do this way too.

Victor’s fingers tightened, sped up a little – he marvelled at how well the other knew him now.

His husband was flushed, panting a little. Yuuri couldn’t resist the temptation to kiss him, deep enough to make his toes curl.

He wasn’t particularly upset when in just a few minutes, he spilled himself in Victor’s hand – it wasn’t nearly as explosive as their first rounds had been, but no less sweet for it. Plus, facing each other like that, he didn’t ever have to stop kissing Victor.

The other man didn’t seem to mind as he made no move to pull back, even once Yuuri was done.

Eventually, it was him that broke the kiss – his earlier question had come back.

“So… where are we going for our honeymoon then?” He asked the Russian, who gave him a disbelieving look.

“THAT’S what you’re thinking about right now?”

Yuuri laughed.

“Well, you made me check the time earlier. Turnabout is fair play.”

Victor playfully stuck his tongue out at him.

“Fine then. See if the next time you get… excited I’ll be thinking about something else too.”

Yuuri ran his hand down Victor’s chest, his fingertips lightly scraping over his well-defined abs. Like every time he did it, Victor shuddered and whimpered quietly – not so quietly when his hand settled on the other man’s ass and squeezed lightly.

“I think I can probably convince you to pay attention to me.” If Victor’s grin hadn’t matched his own, he’d probably have worried he’d genuinely upset the other – as it was, he knew they were just joking around.

“So…” He prompted, still waiting for an answer.

“So?”

“Where are we going?”

Victor hummed and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Have you ever been to Barbados?”

Yuuri laughed, breathless.

“No, but I can’t wait to go with you.”

Victor’s eyes lit up, like they so often did for him, bright with love and excited happiness.

“Me too. I love you, Yuuri!"

"I love you too, Victor."


End file.
